Under the graduate curriculum approved by the Department of History in spring 2002, Public History students will submit a Portfolio instead of writing a comprehensive examination in their major field. Here are some guidelines to help you assemble your Portfolio.

What is the Portfolio? The Portfolio brings together all of your work over your graduate career at USC. You should begin thinking about the Portfolio during your first semester and systematically collect copies of everything you create: both public history products and seminar papers from traditional history courses.

What should I include in the Portfolio? One way to decide what to include is to think about what you would want to bring to a job interview to demonstrate the breadth of your professional experience and the quality of your work. Remember, potential employers are interested in your writing, research, and communication skills, as well as your public history experience.

All Public History students will include:

Students in the Archives track will include:

Students in the Historic Preservation track will include:

Students in the Museums and Material Culture track will include:

What is the Portfolio Presentation? The presentation is a formal public event that is scheduled for one day at the end of the Fall, Spring, and Summer II semesters. Each student will discuss his/her Portfolio with an audience consisting of the supervising faculty in each of the three tracks (Professors Schulz, Weyeneth, and Grier), other students who are presenting that day, and any other interested faculty and graduate students who wish to attend. Each student will be asked to discuss the contents of the Portfolio and its relation to what he/she has learned within the course of study in the Public History Program. Use of handouts and visual materials is encouraged. Following each presentation, supervising faculty will ask questions and comment, after which members of the audience may comment. The presentation is intended to give you experience in public speaking and describing your work in an interview situation.

When can I do my presentation? Only one Portfolio Presentation will be scheduled each semester. You must have completed all coursework, including the internship and the foreign language requirement (or its alternative), before making the Portfolio Presentation. You may make your presentation during the semester in which you are finishing the coursework. You may make your presentation before completing the thesis.

How do I prepare for the presentation? Keep your Public History advisor informed of your plans. Let him/her know if you plan to do your Portfolio Presentation during the coming semester. At least one week prior to the presentation, give your advisor a complete copy of your Portfolio. Give the other two supervising faculty copies of your resume and the table of contents. Consider bringing handouts (of your resume and the table of contents and any other relevant material) for audience members.

How is it graded? The Portfolio Presentation is graded by your advisor in consultation with the other two supervising faculty. Grade is satisfactory or unsatisfactory.